'I want to save them'

After fleeing preteen ordeal, Stockton girl opens up at sex-trafficking symposium, sharing heartbreak and hope for other young victims

STOCKTON - For Jenna, the words and images hit home.

Comment

By Kevin Parrish

recordnet.com

By Kevin Parrish

Posted Jan. 29, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Kevin Parrish
Posted Jan. 29, 2014 at 12:01 AM

What's next?

A second Human Trafficking Symposium is planned next month.• What: Family Justice Center meeting• Where: San Joaquin County Administration Building, 44 N. San Joaq...

» Read more

X

What's next?

A second Human Trafficking Symposium is planned next month.

• What: Family Justice Center meeting

• Where: San Joaquin County Administration Building, 44 N. San Joaquin St.

• When: Feb. 13

» Social News

STOCKTON - For Jenna, the words and images hit home.

And she couldn't stay silent.

"There are a lot of girls on Wilson Way doing that. I am so sorry. I want to save them. It's sad."

The 14-year-old Jenna was the first to speak up Tuesday following a presentation of "The Making of a Girl," an intimate, 2011 video journey of a hypothetical preteen girl as she faces a life of sexual exploitation.

Jenna spoke of a smooth-talking sex trafficker who would lure Stockton children into a life on the street.

Her voice brought reality and poignancy to University of the Pacific's Human Trafficking Symposium, an event that drew nearly 200 people to the DeRosa University Center.

"There was sex, drugs and money," Jenna said later. "I was a runaway in Stockton with nowhere to live - except with friends and on the street.

"There were bad influences. A guy I knew was the Romeo type, and I was getting sucked into it. I was getting money fast."

Jenna was 12.

She and her mother, 52-year-old Regina Markarian, came to the symposium to learn.

Mandy Johnson, a human-trafficking analyst with the state of California, gave them plenty to think about.

She spoke for two hours about definitions, perpetrators, types of trafficking and efforts to end what is being called "modern-day slavery."

Johnson broke down the three types of sex traffickers:

The Romeo: This person is "lovey-dovey." He woos his victims and promises protection. He tells them he's their boyfriend.

The intimidator: This person is abusive and threatening, and likely to rape his victims. He tells them that he owns them. He is a "gorilla."

The CEO pimp: He is an entrepreneur and has business cards. He promises modeling gigs and money. He often has his victims sign a contract.

Both the Romeo and the CEO are likely to turn into an intimidator, or gorilla, over time.

Johnson said human trafficking takes many forms and involves both men and women:

» Involuntary servitude

» Debt bondage

» Domestic servitude

» Slavery

» Sex trafficking

"It is all slavery," she said, adding that sex trafficking involving women is by far the largest category. "We have not moved all that far from where we were 200 to 300 years ago."

Tuesday's symposium is part of a yearlong effort by Pacific to shine a light on the issue.

"It is such an important topic right now," said Steve Jacobson, the university's associate vice president of student life. "It is important to be educated on the topic. We are so pleased with the turnout and excited that people want to learn more about this issue."

Jacobson is chairman of the national Enough is Enough campaign, which is devoted to "promoting peace and reducing violence."

According to the latest estimates, 27 million people worldwide are trafficking victims. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are 18,000 to 20,000 victims nationwide.

Johnson, whose PowerPoint presentation was filled with acronyms and a database of information, brought her message home to San Joaquin County.

"It is here. Don't be deceived," she said. "The awful reality is that there are brothels here in Stockton and that women are being trafficked to farm workers."

Jenna attended Christa McAuliffe Middle School before running away from home three years ago.

"It hurts to see those girls hurt themselves," she said. "I want to help. God only gave us one body and one brain. We need to use it wisely."

After almost two years on her own, she left the street, returned home, and her mother enrolled her at Re-Creation Retreat, a residential treatment center in Fedonia, Ariz., for troubled girls. Jenna hopes to move back to Stockton this summer.

Jenna, taking high school classes online, is only 14 but sounds all grown up.

"I've been sober for two years," she said. "I want to go to college. I am planning to be a probation officer."